On the eve of the 2012 Six Nations tournament, Gaw brings together his two loves: rugby and poetry... We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon a great man, without gaining something by him. He is the living light-fountain, which it is good and pleasant to be near. The light which enlightens, which ... Read More...
About Author Profile: Bill
Continuing our occasional series featuring some of the finest pictures in London's National Gallery, Gaw looks at a crucifixion scene that's unusually troubling even for this genre... The current work-in-progress of Mark Alexander, a painter and friend of The Dabbler, is inspired by Christ Mocked (The Crowning by Thorns) by Hieronymus Bosch. He ... Read More...
Gaw recalls some strange lodgings he took whilst playing rugby in South-West France. Being a professional sportsman isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's actually very boring. Training isn't mentally stimulating and professional sportsmen tend not to be that interesting; they're usually straight up and down. I was playing rugby in ... Read More...
There is no end to the talent contained within that Brit. Here's his Christmas poem. Festive doesn't always equal blithely happy, you know... Ghosts of Christmas Christmas, like revenge or copulation, Is mostly fun in the anticipation. It’s weeks, it’s days, and now it’s here, it’s here! And now it’s gone, in a haze of ... Read More...
The attractions of a Christmas legend, at least for some. Here's one to think about tomorrow, just before bedtime - a poem that refers to a country legend that farmyard animals kneel at midnight on Christmas Eve. By the time it was written Thomas Hardy had lost his faith. It encapsulates ... Read More...
Gaw finds Edwin Muir's memories of childhood particularly resonant... I'm reading Edwin Muir's autobiography, recommended here by masterly commenter Jonathan Law. As JL remarks, the account of his childhood is terrific. He seems remarkably able to inhabit a child's perspective - I've only witnessed it being done as well in Joyce's Portrait of the ... Read More...
Gaw explores how, even though traditional newspapers are in decline, newsprint is finding new and quite lovely uses. For nearly two years now I've been working at a start-up called Newspaper Club. We help people make their own newspapers. It's been a fascinating experience not least because of what people, all ... Read More...
Gaw ruminates on the significance of Solzhenitsyn's final work in a world where even disaffected and idealistic Occupiers no longer really seem very sure of anything... In a little less than a month we mark the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union. I haven't seen a single mention ... Read More...
Dabbler editor Gaw with a poem for 11/11/11... It's always the fellowship that seems most important to soldiers; ultimately, it's what persuades them to die. Doesn't that fit the definition of a tragedy? This poem by the late Mick Imlah describes the fate of the players of the London Scottish rugby club ... Read More...
Gaw looks for a bit of poetic consolation at what he finds to be a depressing time of year. There are two sorts of people: those who welcome the clocks going back as it heralds the opportunity to wear nice woolly jumpers, sit by fires in pubs, and look out the ... Read More...
